Deadline for receipt of abstracts is 30th March 2011.

Asian countries possess a rich archaeological, historical, and vernacular earthen architectural heritage. Research studies have been carried out through the last decades, gradually promoting this cultural richness even though many Asian countries haven’t yet finished drawing up their immovable heritage inventory. Moreover, many more countries of the region are considering the major challenge of preserving their earth architectural heritage. Thus, more projects of conservation and valorization of sites, many of them having been listed on a national scale and by the UNESCO’s prestigious List of World Heritage, are being set up. Another important challenge is the necessity of promoting sustainable architecture and living environment at the core of which the use of natural building materials plays a decisive part. Among these, earthen materials are both abundant and accessible, and together with the rich knowledge and knowhow related to them, offer a great potential. Many fundamental investigations on the material, experimentations on building techniques, but also R&D projects aiming at promoting innovations, have been carried out during the last decades in Asian countries. All these scientific, cultural, social and economic assets, all these progresses, decisive for the future of the Asian Region should be reviewed and much more widely disseminated within the international community. This conference offers such an opportunity.

(from the website http://www.terrasia2011.org)
 

Emergence of Bronze Age Societies: A Global Perspective
全球视野下的青铜时代

Five-day conference in November 2011, Baoji, Shaanxi province, China

Call for papers

The International Centre for Chinese Heritage and Archaeology (ICCHA), Institute of Archaeology, University College London, Peking University and Baoji Municipal People's Government, Shaanxi province, China, invite scholars to participate in the conference Emergence of Bronze Age Societies: A Global Perspective.
The conference aims at enhancing our understanding of the background and development of Bronze Age societies on a global scale. It will trace the beginnings of the use of copper and bronze throughout Eurasia and beyond, and investigate the societies that developed metallurgy. Questions to be raised are: What constitutes a Bronze Age? Which characteristics share early bronze using cultures? Is the use of bronze sufficient to define a Bronze Age society? What kinds of artefacts were predominantly produced? Which technological solutions were found in different bronze-using cultures to source raw materials and to produce alloys and artefacts? What was the role of cross-cultural exchange in the development of Bronze Age societies?
The conference especially seeks to provide a platform for integrating the achievements of Chinese archaeological research on the Bronze Age into a world wide context. For this reason the conference will be held in Baoji, Shaanxi province, China, where a major bronze producing centre was located 3000 years ago, and where one of the largest collections of bronze artefacts in all of Asia is stored.
The conference will be held from 08 to 12 November 2011. The costs of local accommodation and conference fees will be met by the organisers. Foreign participants are responsible for their travel and visa costs.
The deadline for the submission of abstracts is 31 December 2010. Successful candidates are expected to give a talk of 15 minutes and to present a poster of their research during a poster session. Individual posters are welcome as well.

Date: 08 to 12 November 2011
Venue: Baoji Museum of Bronzes, Shaanxi province, China
Conference languages: English/Chinese with translation
The conference proceedings will be published as a peer-reviewed volume.

Download full info as pdf (English and Chinese):

Emergence of Bronze Age Societies:

Lukas Nickel Tianjin Xu
Institute of Archaeology The School of Archaeology and Museology
University College London Peking University
31-34 Gordon Square 5 Yiehyuan Road, Haidian
London WC1H 0PY, UK Beijing, 100871, China
l.nickel@ucl.ac.uk xtj@pku.edu.cn


Intended Topics for conference Emergence of Bronze Age Societies: A Global Perspective

Bronze metallurgy and complex societies
Demography, socio economic aspects
Scale of production, specialisation of crafts, workshop organisation
Types of commodities produced
What makes a Bronze Age?

Contacts and trade
Cross-Eurasian/long distance contacts and their role in forming Bronze Age societies
Raw materials and bronze production
Invention, transfer and adaptation of technology and typology
Centre and periphery in metal production and metal use

Technologies
Origin and development of bronze mining, smelting and alloying
Bronze casting technologies
Other metal working technologies

Bronze and ideology
Bronze and religion, mythology, and social hierarchy
Value, standardisation, and status


Abstracts
For researchers from outside China: Abstracts in English should be sent to
ICCHA
Institute of Archaeology, UCL
31-34 Gordon Square
London WC1H 0PY, UK
iccha@ucl.ac.uk

For researchers from China: Abstracts in Chinese should be sent to
Jianli Chen
The School of Archaeology and Museology
Peking University
5 Yiehyuan Road, Haidian
Beijing, 100871, China
jianli_chen@pku.edu.cn


International Centre for Chinese Heritage and Archaeology (ICCHA)
Institute of Archaeology, University College London
School of Archaeology and Museology, Peking University
Baoji Municipal People's Government
 

These are the edited versions of panels and poster sessions offered at the 2010 SAA conference. They reference Southeast, Northeast, Central and East Asia. (subm. by Gina Barnes)

Download as pdf:

SAA 2010 Asia references


For full listings under panels not focussed on these areas, see the SAA Final Program at:
http://saa.org/AbouttheSociety/AnnualMeeting/FinalProgram/tabid/1418/Default.aspx

Abstracts are available at:
http://saa.org/AbouttheSociety/AnnualMeeting/Abstracts/tabid/1415/Default.aspx

The SEAA meeting is Saturday, April 17th, at 5.00-6.30, in Parkview/Aubert (R)